Under the Eight Stratgey
by SHpanda4354
Summary: One more than perfect. If the strategy is one more than perfect, is it a strategy? Responsibly, a ninja is to acknowledge the goals of his targets and those that have fallen before him. Does he respect his adversary enough to accomplish them for him?
1. The Cliff

Random sentence generators are always NEVER your friends. I get one stupid question out of it and here comes a whole multi-chapter fanfiction. No! It can't be a one shot, that defeats the purpose of cliffhangers and surprises as my brain runs crazy with this bunny.

If I owned Naruto… there would be fewer pictures and more words. That would be no fun.

--

Chapter 1: The Cliff

The wind… It moves things. It brings change. I have stood atop this windy hill before today. Both then and now: we fight; he falls; I win. My blade has tasted his blood. My flesh had felt his wrath.

Wrath? Really? Maybe. He hated, therefore he had wrath. He hated our situation, hated life, hated death, hated fate. But did he hate me? Both then and now: I question.

But it has to be this way. One of us—not both—can stay. My tasks—his goals. Now I hold both. In these hands. With these hands… !!

Tears? Yeah. Stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot!! Why couldn't you leave it alone?! Leave me alone?! Be alone?! You don't want to be popular. That's just truly alone.

But you can't. Being even a little alone hurts like a sonuvabitch.

Look at you, usuratonkachi. Your face stained with our tears. You're smiling, dobe. You said "I'm sorry, teme." You, the ninja who was loudest. You, who always stood out. You. You do the most stupidest pansy-assed disgustingly un-cool thing ever. Smile. Apologize. Die. How shitty is that? And now I have to become Hokage because you up and die? That's bullshit, Naruto…and you know it.

Why?!

Why the fuck does a smile apologize?!

The wind. Your breath. Naruto. The wind is yours. I tried to take it. I tried to master it. Controlling the wind leaves us no where… The wind…

It moves things.

Moved me.

It changes things.

Changed the village.

Naruto…

"Uchiha-san… Uchiha-san." A black clad ANBU presented himself to Sasuke's waking eyes as he sat up from the sun-warmed bench, the high, clean air breezing across them. It was nothing compared to the crisp, clean scent of wind that had just vanished from him.

"What." No question, just displeasure. From the sleep he'd just been cheated out of? From the weird dream? Or from this particular ninja's presence? He wasn't going to think about it.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you." Again? The third time this week. This time last year, Sasuke had finally been relieved of his obligatory weekly meetings with the Hokage. All of a sudden though, it seemed like he was hot shit again. He didn't see why they couldn't just leave him alone. All of Tsunade's requirements had been met already… Except for the children. Those take time.

"Tell him he can—"

"Sasuke! Don't be rude! He wouldn't call you unless it's important. You know how lazy he is," Sakura had approached from behind. She lightly pushed at his shoulder blades, urging the reluctant man to stand. "C'mon. I have to escort you." His response was a quizzical glance back at her, she shrugged as if to say 'I don't know everything thing that goes on inside of that building, even if I work there.'

"Why?"

"Because everyone and their mom knows that you always run away from Sai the first chance that you get," she smiled at the retreating form of her former teammate, remembering how well off his relationship with Sasuke was. At least they hadn't fought like each of them had with Naruto; it was actually pretty ok, except for Sasuke's occasional random outburst followed by his quick disappearance.

"He's weird," he offered in his defense, along with his hand to help her down the three flights of stairs it took to reach the dreaded office.

"You're weird. Most men marry for love, money, or sex. But you married for babies."

"Nobody said you had to accept," he looked across to her right hand, protectively wrapped around a lump on her stomach. After attacking the village to expose the lies the elders had fed its citizens, one of Tsunade's many requirements to be accepted as a ninja of Konoha once again was to have many children, so that they could lead the lives of those lost from both the Uchiha Massacre and his attack. The first person he had thought to ask was Sakura. She was the only girl who had a chance of understanding everything. It was a marriage of necessity; as things turned out, her parents had been pushing her to find a guy. He didn't dare try asking her to give up her freedom; he even insisted that she do what she wanted—even suggested hiring a fulltime nanny—so long as he made babies. She refused, and failed to mention that multiples ran in her family. Now on her fourth pregnancy, Sakura was sure she was carrying numbers seven and eight.

"Sasuke-kun…" she whispered, "We're here." He heaved a sigh at the door they'd been paused at for the last few moments, praying that the meeting was short, and opened the door for her. "Sorry, I have to wait out here." He frowned. Since when was it not OK for Sakura to see the Hokage?

"Uchiha Sasuke," he announced himself. He stared dully at the languid figure propped up between the desk and the chair. "How may I of be of service today?" The grey mop rose to reveal the equally bored and doubly calculating gaze of his former instructor.

"Sasuke," he started lightly, "I have a favor to ask."

"I'm not running any more errands for you, Kakashi." Way to kill that conversation. Sasuke turned to leave.

"No. Actually, it's not an errand," the older man corrected. Sasuke turned back, but only just to acknowledge another opportunity to say no. "This is something I've been considering for a while, but there is no better time than the present, I suppose. Sasuke, I'd like you to consider succeeding me as Hokage."

--

I'm a firm believer that Kakashi will become Hokage. (I plug my ears at you who try to kill my happiness!!!) I want to try to explain to those fans that are not comfortable with the idea that Sasuke-chan and Sakura have made babies. My humor likes unfunny jokes – worst yet is that I can make sense out of them to defend them.

I promise that I will try to answer all questions that don't make sense in later chapters. But please, feel free to review and leave those questions so that I can answer them.

And for the love of all things sacred and holy, if you are going to review and ask questions that contain spoilers, PM me. Don't ruin the fun or others. (I only give spoilers to those who don't read it…then they only know the story I give them.)

And for any readers that are in on my 'colors' joke… K. Masashi has attempted to oust my school colors. (Cry.) For those not, if there's enough interest, I think I hear crack!fic calling...

For future reference, I will only use mixed laguages while in speech, otherwize, forget it. I'm only willing to use it on nicknames and suffixes anyhow. I don't feel like hacking my way through a foreign language unless I've been able to pass an exam on it. (I offer minimal Spanish, but my Japanese just isn't up to par.)


	2. Edging Towards Flight

I'm tempted to re-write the previous chapter. …Don't want to… that'll hinder me in posting the next one… but the styles clash… . I don't know… Probably.

So uhm… I tried convincing Sasuke that my owning him would be beneficial to him… I'm not sure if it was the calling card I used, or what, but the conversation didn't make it very far… :[

--

Chapter 2: Edging Towards Flight

_Shodai …_

_Nidaime …_

_Sandaime. …_

_Yondaime …_

_Godaime …_

_Rokudaime. …_

_Nanadaime …_

The words slowly dripped into Sasuke's mentalscape, childhood images of veneration drowning in the only recently subdued images of irrational perturbation. His mind raced with the thousands of words crying from the voices of many, each trying to make their argument clear.

Hokage? Did he really want to be Hokage? If there was a standing list of what he hated most, being the Hokage was somewhere in the top ten. No fucking way. Regaredless of whether or not he had successfully managed to avenge his clan from destructive spiral that Shodai and Madara had started, he didn't want to be a part of it any longer.

But wouldn't that completely solve the issue? If the Uchiha clan was so pissed off about not being recognized for their position in Konohagakure, wouldn't him becoming Hokage change that? So what. He wasn't one of them. Itachi saw to that. He only had the name to carry; their ideals were absurd, selfish. Far be it from Sasuke to undo that which Sandaime had achieved, for which so many lives had already been lost. Repeating the cycle… that would be pointless.

Above the voices of rejection, of wry contentment, a small portion of voices were swept away in a flurry of sensation that the raven was unwilling to solidify. In this place the word echoed, reverberating off of unseen walls in this sunny, bright, warm expanse of yellow and orange. Hokage. The smile that tugged at Sasuke's lips was akin to that of the memory that had spawned it. Faith, assuredness and determination filtered through friendliness and hyperactivity. For the usuratonkachi, there was only one answer.

"Add it to the list of things that Konohamaru hates me for," he grinned, feeling Naruto's presence encroaching upon him. "Are you going to have any problems with this choice?" He was fully aware of his position in Konohagakure's society at the moment. Only those involved knew why he had done what he had, the remaining majority despised him—even more so when they found out that Tsunade had forgiven him, letting him return to status as a Konoha ninja, with a leash of course.

"Well obviously," Kakashi replied stepping forward, positioning himself within arm's reach. "But for that same reason, the questioning won't amount to anything." He reciprocated the grin, affirming it with a strong grip on the younger man's shoulder. The grin on his face fell to a knowing smirk, wry with discontent at the conflict his decisions had arisen, gaze shifting to the cityscape perched beyond the window. The village wouldn't really accept him anyway would they? Maybe he should be looking for someone to replace him the moment he was appointed. But that damned dobe wouldn't stop flitting his smile across his brain. Of course he would do it. If Konohagakure didn't like him, he'd just have to take the time that was necessary to convince them that he was the man for the job. Damned dobe.

"But, there's a problem with this at the same time," he commented, stepping outside the reach of the ashen-haired man.

"Hm?" Eyebrows rose in expected question.

"Not that I'm all that concerned with what the village has to say about the matter," he began, "I can't take the title." _It's taken…_ he wanted to add. Someone else belonged to that title.

Kakashi was taken aback. What did he mean? He'd been expecting something about the children… Sasuke's easily variable temperament… even the slight chance that he wouldn't want to govern people that hated him… but what did he mean by— Oh. "If you're talking about a certain someone needing his due recognition, that shouldn't be too much of a problem." Saying the blond's name had the same effect on Sasuke that his name had once had on Naruto—no, similar, but there existed a single, debilitating difference: Where Naruto had fought with all of his might to regain Sasuke, the raven was unable to consider regaining Naruto from death. As far as Kakashi knew, the village as whole had moved to a point where although they hated Sasuke for it, they had begun to look past the loss of their number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja; the emotions having dulled to a slow, numbing ache. For the man standing before him, there were moments where he was sure he saw his features twisted in some grotesque hybrid of abhorrence and anguish—he was probably facing a large, freshly scabbed wound. And he kept peeling off the scab.

This was a reason why he had hoped that Sasuke would agree to take the position. Hopefully, the job of dealing with more people, having to think of the well being of so many people that were outside of his circle would help him to recover from that pain… or at least move past it.

"So, when is this going to happen?" Sasuke spoke after a silence, greatly trying to suppress the trepidation in his voice. The silence had been an opportunity for his brain to wedge a banana peel under his feet; he'd fallen head first into the doubtful abyss. Was he really ready? This type of responsibility was huge… would he be able to handle it? He'd led a few people, not that many. He'd been in charge of a team before; it was a huge difference between Team Hebi and the Team 8 he was training now. Those bratty genin! They would wear and tear at his sanity and patience until he exploded on them. It was hell to be with them for extended periods of time. Would he do this with the rest of the village? Of course. They would more than likely deserve it, too. But how often would it happen? Half of the ANBU didn't want to be near him, be it watching him, or when he was grouped in special missions… the old friends tolerated him… none of them fully trusting him. If they were under him, would they respect him? Trust him with their lives? Listen to him? Tolerate his temper? "Didn't you just get appointed eight years ago?" He tried to cover his worrying with a feasible concern.

_Teme, _scoffed a mocking growl, _you're not scared are you?_ The words may have drowned Kakashi's response; regardless, the raven didn't hear it. Thoughts screaming to a halt, the raven stood unbelieving, a mixture of displeasure and incredulity tugging at his mouth.

"Naruto?" shock filled the whisper, inaudible—the distant gaze that held the leader's reflection. That voice was only his… there was no way that he was here, no way that Sasuke could hear him in his thoughts.

"Sasuke?" a worried question lurched the twenty-four-year-old away from the stone cataract, his precipice of all pain and death. Onyx eyes blinked away the emotions, refocusing, concealing. His former teacher wasn't blind; however, Kakashi knew that whatever was bothering him would be pointless to coax out of him before he had time to sit down with it himself. And he wasn't one to pick his battles where they couldn't be won. He suspected it was something with the raven's ability that had been brought into question. "I'm in no rush to force this responsibility upon anyone; if you'd like to wait a while until you're prepared, gather advisors, enjoy your freedom. By all means, go ahead."

"Yeah," Sasuke had grown disinterested with the topic. Wishing far greater to find an explanation with what had just happened. "Do you have a date, or should I make one?" distance still littered his voice—there might have been a tinge of shock still lying in wait.

"Ah! That can wait for a while," he replied cheerfully. Sasuke's apparent distraction worried him; he attempted to lighten the conversation. "How is Sakura-chan doing?"

"You work with her, you can ask her yourself," his eyes grew more distant, forcing himself to choke back the snappy edge the reply threatened. Very few people knew the true reason for the marriage. He had built an act to fit the outside knowledge, but hated pretending to feel so much for her. Yes, the love and care existed, but not to the degree customary for a marriage. Though, the more children she bore for him, the more he came to feel that something was growing. At this point, they belonged to together; if he could help it, it was going to stay that way.

As for those who knew the secret of the Uchiha marriage, Sasuke held no attempt to force his emotions to overly extend themselves to his wife. "I could ask the same of Kurenai-san, but facetiousness has never been a standing trait of mine. If that's all, I'd like to leave before I'm late with meeting my team. We don't need another of you running around anymore, do we?" The wry smirk belied his earlier comment. No, small bouts of frivolity to change the subject were quite common in him lately. The Hokage replied in kind:

"So cold, Sasuke-kun!" he smiled, shrugging. "Dismissed." He turned and quickly took his leave. It was best at any rate. At the mention of the kunoichi's name, he had recalled a most pressing task. Hajime's birthday was approaching and he'd promised to help plan for the child's birthday. After his father's death, Kurenai had been promised by both Shikamaru and himself to help her in any way they could; she was just as likely to refuse their help as take it. That was probably the parallel his student had tried to draw between the raven and his wife. "However, I have yet to produce any children." He commented to no one in particular. Pondering Sasuke's behavior, he quit the room as well. Quickly resolving to leave it for later as another of his former student's rushed up to him. "Sai?" The pale man's schooled face only revealed small discomfort.

"There's an issue with Otogakure," he replied.

"There's always an issue with Otogakure, what is it this time?"

"Although the three villages near the border of our countries have been complaining of small raids, we've just been dismissing them as bandits," he explained, "One of them has been attacked. They were Oto-nin." A grimace formed on the ashen-haired man's face.

"So much for that birthday party…" he sighed.

--

I'm going to say this once. If you don't know what a word I used meant, feel free to ask me, or get a dictionary. They are very helpful. I'm a patron of linguistics and promoting the usage of verbiage.

If you feel I need to explain something… uhm… tell me. I'll try to… .

And meanwhile my fried holds me captive, drowning pretzels in white chocolate. …Those poor, poor …ah! =_= mmmmmmm….. :]


End file.
